


True beauty

by asocial_butterfly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Body image problems, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, honestly he just has problems with how he looks, i swear it was gonna be shallura but shatt snatched me, ill tag as i go i guess, keith just want to show some TLC to this child, klance are in their mid twenties, lance loves and hates himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 06:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11915091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asocial_butterfly/pseuds/asocial_butterfly
Summary: Lance McClain...He was warped. He wanted those around him to notice his looks, to compliment him and to long for him ...He had a problem, his perception of true beauty. There wasn't a day he would go without staring at the mirror with hatred and disgust, but also adoration and pride. How could anyone feel this way towards themselves?Ever since he was little, Lance had been obsessed with beauty. He liked the idea of making people fawn and lust over him. this came at a high price, his sanity; he barely had a solid grip on it, his anxiety chased him recklessly never letting him lead a normal life. Beauty expectations became harder to uphold and he was slowly slipping through the cracks of reality.That is until his new neighbor Keith sees right through him and his plastic smile. The young counselor-in-training was about to open a whole new door for Lance, but only if he could trust him and take his hand.





	True beauty

**Author's Note:**

> i love marina and the diamond's teen idol i also love voltron.......do the maths....or let pidge do it.  
> ALSO huge thanks to @all.sorts.of.fandom on insta for helping me correct my grammar

Pluck pluck, the cold silver tweezers stood out against the tan skin of a certain Lance Mattao McClain, leaving in its wake slightly flushed skin. He tweezed and tweezed, he couldn't possibly leave a stray hair. That would ruin his reputation, or so he thought. ''come on you little devils! I'm not leaving 'till you're all in line,'' he muttered aimlessly to himself. It seems a little birdy let it slip that a new neighbor would be joining them in this small quaint neighborhood, not that Pidge had any bad intentions-, quite the opposite. They just wanted to ensure Lance was on his best behavior and not trying to terrify his new neighbor.

Once plucked to perfection, he splashed some cold water onto his face in hopes of reducing the slight redness. He locked eyes with his reflection as he dried his face with the small pastel yellow face towel, his smile slowly slipped of his face as he scrutinized every detail on his face. Whether big or small, all his flaws were put under a microscope and prodded at; it was practically a ritual.

His natural excitement that came with meeting new people slowly morphed into fear of what this new person might think of him. Was he too lanky? Were his limbs too long for his body? Was his hair to short for his features? Was there possibly anything he could do to improve how he looked? However before he had the chance to alter his appearance, the unmistakable sound of a moving van took hold of his attention. He gazed outside his window; The sight of a white van pulling up to the house opposite his greeted him as well as that. There was a red Honda civic in tow of the van. Out of the red car came a young man with hair darker than coal; it looked longer at the back than at the front. And from what Lance could see, the man looked small in stature. Any other features were lost in the distance. He suspected that might have been the new neighbor about to occupy the house opposite his that had been uninhabited for over 7 months.

He quickly composed himself and applied a generous amount of moisturizer before making his way downstairs and to his door to meet the new neighbor. It's best to get along with his neighbor considering he will be seeing him for however long he decides to stay here. After all, this a mundane town, full of average people. Some people prefer a little more than that in theIR lives, and little 'ol Altea just doesn't cut it for most.

It is, however, perfect for Lance. An average town with average people means he can make an entrance that is sure to turn heads. He stands out in many ways and that's what he likes, the thought of people's attention being on him and just the sight of him making people want to look just as good as he does...call it whatever you want, you can even go so far as to pin it on his parents, but Lance likes the attention. That's not a bad thing... is it?

Lance opened the door, the bright sunlight casting a lively glow onto him. He took calculated steps across the street, shoulders back, head high. The way one carries themselves is important, and the last thing he wants this person to think is that he's some slob. Best to make the best impression possible. He waited 'till he was right in front of the shorter male's lawn before speaking. ''Hiya you must be our new neighbor!'' he bursted with excitement and inviting aura, the ravenette regarded Lance with slight shock but composed himself. Talking to people outside of work situations was not something he was good at.

''oh,um, yeah. That's me. I'm Keith'' he extended a pale hand toward the tanned boy in front of him. Lance eagerly took his hand, reciprocating his greeting. ''Nice to meet you, the name's Lance. I live across from you, I thought it might be good to come scope out the competition'' he teased, well ofcrures charming and charismatic thats what he does, he wasn't expecting his comment to be met with an adorably confused face. ''competition?'' ''well, of course! A pretty boy like yourself showing up in our little town at the start of autumn. Sounds like the start to a really cheesy movie, if you ask me don't tell me you don't expect to have a bunch of admires? tsk,tsk'' Lance couldn't help but tease the alabaster beauty and smirked when he noticed Keith's slight blush at being called pretty. ''oh, no, not me. But i see what you mean''.

''well if you need any help getting around don't hesitate to ask me, I like to thing i'm pretty good with directions In all things Altea'' he said, a polite smile married his features and he spoke with his hands. Keith could tell he got attention wherever he went. It made him wonder whether or not Lance was a TA or something relating to that, being able to get people to focus solely on him was a skill valued in most places of work. ''Thanks. it's good to know this won't feel like being the new kid in school all over again,'' Keith chucked, perhaps moving wasn't such a bad thing. ''No problem, man. But if you don't mind me asking, why the the sudden move? I mean don't get me wrong, people move whenever they please. I guess I'm just curious, there's nothing really eye-catching in Altea.'' The conversation with Lance almost completely distracted him from the moving workers forcing boxes into the door of his new house and disposing them into different rooms depending on the color of tape on them.

He focused back on Lance to answer his question. '' I'm a counselor, or to be specific, I'm a counselor in training, I need to work a certain amount of years to count as a full-fledged councilor- sounds like i'm in some sort of cult'' he laughed along with Lance before continuing, '' But I just transferred to Altea Care Center a few minutes away from here,'' he finished off his explanation as Lance hummed. ''Ah, I see. If you're a counselor. wouldn't you be better off in the city? I don't know anything about concealing, I wasn't even aware Altea Care Center had anything to do with stuff like that.'' It wasn't said in a rude or dismissive way, Lance was just a naturally curious person. ''well, actually, i'm part of the online division, so a lot of my work is done online for people who don't feel like talking face-to-face or prefer seeking help online. Plus, the anonymity of me not knowing them face-to-face makes some people more willing to talk about what's bothering them. I thought it would make life easier to move to the main center in Altea and work in the office here. That way, people I'm currently talking to have an address they can come to if they feel like talking in person. it's all boring stuff, really... '' Keith dismissed the subject with a smile. Talking to Lance seems like it might be easy. Who knows, maybe he's already found his first friend.

''wow that seems intense, i mean the whole people telling you their ish'' lance said as he helped keith with the medium sized box he was attempting to lift ''uhm no not really, some patients situations might require me to take a break every once in a while but its not really like a therapist job its more like getting an internet friend who helps you deal with stuff, i don't know but i couldn't ask for a better job'' they put down the box in the living room that was identical to lance's own but flipped, it was clear to lance that Keith enjoyed his job although he himself wasn't well versed in what councilors do he admired his enthusiasm for his work. The two exchanged more pleasantries and a promise of lance to help Keith settle in. Lance made his way back to his home and up to his frequently visited vanity mirror where he proceeded to spend the next few minuets replicating any facial expressions he made during his conversation with Keith, or at least the ones in his recollection then picked apart every single expression, to him this was normal and justified and was how he ended a majority of his days.

**Author's Note:**

> hiya this is my first time writing for the voltron fandom, its also my first time writing on AO3 and its been a while since i last wrote anything so pardon my early awkwardness that comes with not writing for a while. also if you would like you could follow me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asocial_dumpling/?hl=en I plan on posting updates about what ever story i'm writing on there or if you would like you could follow my tumblur : https://www.tumblr.com/blog/asocial-dumpling idk if ill have an upload schedule but at the time of this chapter being posted i'm still on summer break but i don't have long i also have art course work i need to finish up but ill update as frequently as i can :) i hope you like it.


End file.
